The New Testament Gospels do not give a date for the birth of Christ. And, among the earliest Christians, no attempt was made to celebrate His birthday.

According to Catholic Online, it was only in 336 A.D. that the church in Rome fixed the date on Dec. 25 and added Christmas Day to the list of officially recognized feast days.

The Eastern branch of early Christianity, based in Constantinople at the time, followed suit some years later. However, because the eastern rite churches use a different calendar, Orthodox Christmas does not occur until Jan. 7 on the common calendar.

It is possible that the date was selected to take advantage of pagan festivals already being celebrated by many people. Religious scholars generally agree that, based on the Gospel accounts of His birth, it is most probable that Jesus actually was born in the springtime.

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